Catching Up With Some Jazz Vinyl Auctions
Let’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay:
Bud Powell, Jazz Giant, Norgran 1063. This was an original yellow-label deep-groove pressing with the cover illustration by David Stone Martin. The record was listed in probably VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover, although you have to read the descriptions carefully to reach those conclusions. This one sold for $260.99, which is quite a nice price for a Norgran these days. I have a duplicate of this record, but it’s not in quite as nice condition.
Joe Henderson, Mode For Joe, Blue Note 4227. This was an interesting one: It was a factory-sealed pressing. It has all the makings of an original pressing, with the mono cover, the lack of anything remotely Liberty, the right address. But is it an original? Only the buyer will know for sure, presuming he eventually opens the LP to listen to it. This one sold for $215.63. Question to think about: Would it have sold for more money if it had been opened and the seller could guarantee that it was an original pressing?
Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This was the one we mentioned the other day:
The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG. The price was $1,555. As for the other Jutta Hipp record, the 10-inch Blue Note 5056, the bidding is now in the $375 range and there is still more than a day left on the auction.
I’d never take the risk with a sealed record.
anyone would?
I take the risk if the cover’s attributes – including but not limited to – the sealing, points to an original copy.
I picked up a sealed copy of Henderson’s “Page One” some years back. I admit I held my breath as I opened the shrink. My heart dropped when the inner sleeve was a liberty one, but to my pleasant surprise the vinyl was a NY copy.
At 4227 it won’t be a plastylite pressing no matter what. I guess the main 2 risks are:
(1) that it’s not a 70s blue label in the wrong jacket;
(2) it’ll be a Liberty mono pressing without Van Gelder mastering.
a sealed lp could be horribly warped…. depending how it was stored..
I have just picked up a sealed copy of Harold Vick’s Caribbean Suite (a cheap find) and I don’t know if I should open it or not….I have a CD cut of the music any how so may stick it on a shelf.
…I recall making the “rookie” mistake of purchasing a sealed copy of John Coltrane’s Blue Trane BN 1577 when I first started out as a Jazz collector. Keep in mind, this was way back before we had all the great pressing references we have now thanks to the trail blazers here in the Jazz Collective and Fred’s Book of course. At the time, it seemed like a great find, and this particular LP had always been one of my personal favorites, so I took a chance. Looking back on it now, I see at least a dozen tell-tale signs that should have tipped me off that it wasn’t even close to an original first pressing. (The first, being that it was sealed of course !) Long story short, once it arrived, I soon discovered that it was a New York pressing. (Yes, I opened it ! I know, I know… I am weak what can I say.) After having dropped $250 on a mint, still sealed copy of this classic (A small fortune for this LP at the time) the privilege was mine I thought. It wasn’t long before I realized what I had purchased. Eventually though, I found my original pressing of this masterpiece, and even managed to find a good home for the New York pressing, selling it for exactly what I paid. Live and learn I guess…